596 



Effectual Means of Fumigating Letters. 



firtd its own resources, ami it may again 

 Jift its drooping luati. Let negotiations 

 be opened ora1tcin|)tcd with cverj civi- 

 lized porlion Oi'fljc world ; let the pilirul 

 and mistaken idea Ijc ai>andoned of one 

 party' gaining by tiie other's loss; let 

 imposts, dnties, restrictions, customs, 

 crtibargoes, a:>d prohibitions, (names 

 which have well nigh monopolised half 

 our voeabniancs,) bc^ abolished on both 

 sides, as far as it can be practicable ; 

 and let the world be taiight to feel, that 

 tiicre are other purposes worthy of their 

 attention besides those of taxation, jiil- 

 lage, and slaughter. Emjdojraent for 

 the people is, or should be, the grand 

 aim ofcver> government; and political 

 knowledge has made very feeble ad- 

 vances indeed, if we do not begin to 

 perceive, that whatever restrictions are 

 laid upon conimerec by way of encou- 

 raging local exertions, or home manu- 

 factories, they w ill incvilaljly operate in 

 the long-run aij much against the inte- 

 rest of the projectors as against those to 

 whose diKad\ aiitagc they were designed 

 to ai)ply. Let half a score such men as 

 Koscoe be selected, (and would to Ood 

 sueii may be found I) h t them be spee- 

 dily employed in such foreign negotia- 

 tions, and on such principles ; and it 

 inay not be too late to rescue us froDi 

 litter misery <ind ruin. 



Should it be urged, that, in the pre- 

 sent difficult state of our jjublic finances, 

 the abolition of oiu' customs, or even u 

 reduction of them, cannot possibly be 

 udmitted ; it fi)llo\\ s necessarily that our 

 distresses originate in, and must be 

 perpetuated by, Ihe mismanagement of 

 our rulers. On the other hand, if the 

 tiling is practicable, and they will not 

 inake the attempt, they take the whole 

 responsibility n|)on themselves, and 

 must be answerable for the conse- 

 quences. But, should such attempts 

 after all piove abortive, we have then 

 no other resource than to look in ujion 

 onr internal means, to scatter our popu- 

 lation over the surface of the country ; 

 to discourage the breed of cattle; to de- 

 stroy our ^nachinery ; to encourage 

 every scheme for the jnomotion of ma- 

 nual labour ; and, like the Chinese, to 

 become jealous of the assistance even 

 of a whcel-barrow. 



JAMUS Lt'CKCOCK. 



Sirniingham ; Oct. 1 2. 

 To tlie Editor of ihe Bloutldtj Magazine. 



SIR, 



HAVE heard it remarked, that 

 niauy vaitiable suggestions are cou- 



[CeC. 1, 



tallied in the works little known, be» 

 cause they are more beneiicial than 

 amusing, and have therefore found nft en- 

 comiast. In the first volume of a book 

 published by Messrs. Longman and Co. 

 entitled, " Sketches of Intelieetnal Edu- 

 cation," there arc remarks upon the 

 tieatmcnt of ehildrc!! defective in men- 

 tal powers, which all parents, who have 

 that difficult duty to perform, nia^ find 

 advantage in considering. The most 

 formidable obstacle to the improvement 

 of these unrortuuate beings will arise 

 from the almost impossibility of finding 

 suitable instructors.* If we seriously 

 call to mind the numbers who arc lost 

 to society by weakness of iniderstand- 

 ing, we siiall perceive the importance 

 of discovering means to padiate or re- 

 medy the dire caiamity. Your miseei- 

 lany, sir, is so extensively circulated, 

 and the philanthrojiy of the editor so 

 well kiiowii, that I need not offer any 

 apology to yon or to your readers for 

 tliis short intimation. Senex. 



For the MonUdy Magazine. 

 MEMOIR on the ruMlG.ATioN o/'lettkrs; 



hy EERrvANDlXO ANTOMO DE GOMEZ, 

 o/'lis!;o\. 

 72V order to preserve Portugal from the 

 -* introduction of the plague, or the 

 yellow fever, is it sufficient to make jn- 

 cisio/is in the letters received from sus- 

 pected countri'S and to fumigate them, 

 without opening them, and uithout even 

 soaking ihc7n ni vintgar? And, in pass- 

 ing them through the vinegar, tn/jy the 

 opening of the letters be dispensed inth! 



The government, being desirous of 

 abstaining from openii.'g the ie'f( rs re- 

 ceived from infected or susj-ected coun- 

 tries, in order to soak them in vini gar, 

 according to the regulations of ite^alfh of 

 the port of Bulam, projiosed the above 

 problem to the Junta of Health. 



The Junta, adheriog to the maxim of 

 erring rather on the side of precaution, 

 than being guiltv of the negligence in 

 not propo>ing fo th<^ government the 

 most edicacious measures for the jire- 

 ventiiiii of tiiat calamity, answered, that 

 it was their beliet, that there was no 

 actual certaiiily oi preventing the in- 

 troduction of the plague, which might 

 be communicated by letters, without 

 opening them, because they might con- 



* The ediior can inform inquirers 

 where such instniction niay be obtained 

 by persons who can afford the terms. 

 Adidts will be received in the same retreat, 

 where only four cab be admitted. 



tain 



